So This Is War
by xxRainSongxx
Summary: Leo did not expect a whirlwind to tear down his peaceful life and drag him into this strange, dark world, but when she does, he kind of falls in love. Spy AU, in which Leo is a little awkward and Calypso is a total badass. Featuring the fabulous Argo II Crew. Rated T for Coach Hedge. Updates sporadically.
1. Whirlwind

Leo loved his job. He really did. It was just that sometimes, it brought him… _unique_ customers.

Okay, he was lying. His job brought him the strangest customers that would do the strangest things and _drag him into it_. (That only happened once, but he counts it anyway.)

Take, for example, Percy. His motorcycle was acting up, so he brought it into the shop. Apparently, Percy was a racer, and he loved blue food. Leo had found out that particular fact when Percy had stayed and watched while Leo repaired "Blackjack" (the bike) and suddenly pulled out from seemingly nowhere a brown paper bag practically bursting with blue chocolate chip cookies. _All blue. All completely violent, cobalt blue_. Leo almost dropped his wrench on his head and got a concussion (again). Eventually, Percy explained the history behind the cookies, and invited Leo to watch his next race. (But that's another story for another time.)

Then, there was Jason and his older sister, Thalia, polar opposites in almost every aspect. Jason was friendly, with blond hair and blue eyes and glasses. He had chattered to Leo almost the whole time, and immediately hit off with him, even if he seemed more serious and… leader-y than his sister. Thalia had leaned against a wall the whole time, snapping her gum and occasionally snarking, though she was nice enough (Leo supposed), and was the heiress to a wealthy virtual _empire_ (read: Zeus Industries). Emphasis on _was_. She had, apparently, wanted nothing to do with it, so she ran away from home and adopted a punk lifestyle. Leo vaguely remembered reading the whole mess on the papers. Now, Jason was the heir, and wanted almost as little to do with it as Thalia did (haha, sucker).

They had come in because they had an argument in their shared car. Why did they share a car? Because Thalia didn't want her daddy to buy her (another) expensive sports car that she would crash and break. What was the argument about? Thalia wanted to listen to Green Day and Jason wanted to listen to some weird classical music. Why were they in the shop? Because during the argument, they broke the steering wheel and the audio system. How did they break it? Leo had no freaking idea. Actually, he almost congratulated them on giving him the (second) strangest job he ever had.

The strangest customer, Leo decided, had to be the fiery whirlwind that had swept into his shop on an oddly chilly Monday afternoon in the middle of September (he would be lying if he said that he forgot the exact date, which was September 17th), every fibre of her being simply screaming trouble. Also, completely out of his league. He fell anyway.

It happened a little something like this.

* * *

A girl made her way into _Festus Auto Repair_ , shaking out her caramel hair. A merry bell _ding!-_ ed her presence. She was holding a biker's helmet under one arm, and looked like a picture-perfect motorcycle model.

She was wearing a green army jacket over a sleeveless white tunic with ripped jeans tucked into leather combat boots. Her face didn't match her bad-girl demeanor, though. She had fine features and soft almond eyes.

Basically, she was a bike-riding _angel_ , and basically, Leo was head over heels in love.

She marched over to the desk. "I need to see Leo Valdez."

Leo said something real intelligent, like, "Uhhh… hi?" (He almost facepalmed. Nice one, Valdez. Nice.)

She gave him a once over, looking at him as if he were a bug in her drink. " _You_ are Leo Valdez? Apparent mechanical genius?" She wrinkled her nose.

It sounded like it could have been a compliment. So why did it hurt so much? Leo winced. "The one and only." He chuckled nervously, tapping his nametag, which, in case you are really dense, read "LEO VALDEZ".

She squinted at him. Leo was reminded of a lioness evaluating her prey. He gulped. After a few moments, she seemed satisfied. "I have a job for you." With that, she whisked out of the shop, donning her helmet and climbing on to her red bike. Leo stood awkwardly in his shop doorway. She turned, and Leo _swore_ he could feel her glaring through the helmet. "You coming or not?"

"I kind of have a shop to run, lady. I can't just run off with strangers telling me they have a job for me." He crossed his arms in what he hoped was an intimidating way, but it probably came off more like "Somebody save me, I'm scared".

She lifted the visor and gave him an incredulous look. "Well, close it. This is much more important than your petty little shop." She paused, then added, "The job pays well. _Very_ well."

Leo hesitated for a moment, conflicted. He loved his job, but he also needed the money.

"Oh, just get on! We don't have time to waste!" She started the engine.

Leo reluctantly flipped the sign in front of the shop to "CLOSED" and got on the red motorcycle (he held that his ride was _much_ sweeter). He gingerly put his arms around the girl's waist.

They were halfway down the highway before Leo realized he was still wearing welding goggles and his t-shirt had grease stains on it.

* * *

Leo was taken through the highway into the _next freaking state_ , where the lady wove through some shady streets and eventually pulled to a stop by an old, rundown building.

Old and rundown was an understatement. The building was falling apart at the seams. Four out of five windows were broken, and there was ivy climbing up the cracks in the concrete. The door was holding on desperately to its hinges, and there was _nothing around the doorframe._ Leo wasn't entirely sure why they even kept the door - maybe as a formality? - because a four-foot radius around the door looked to be blown up. There were faint traces of ash and a lot of debris littering the steps that led up to it. To top it all off, the building was practically _smothered_ in graffiti. It could have been a poster child for a vandalism commercial. Most of the graffiti was fading, with ivy growing over it. However, some of the paint was covering the plant growth around it, and Leo couldn't help but feel pity for the poor ivy. Something clattered inside, making him jump. The building was definitely creepy, and the setting sun didn't help any.

None of this seemed to faze the girl (what was her name, anyway?), who tossed her hair over her shoulder (Leo noticed it turned a burnt copper with the fading light) and marched right up to the building. Leo stood, gaping at it. When she realized he wasn't following her, she turned around exasperatedly. For about the fourth time that day, she asked, "Are you _coming_ or _not_?" Leo gulped nervously and followed her into the death-trap.

Mystery girl took out an old-fashioned kerosene lamp and led the way through the maze of collapsed corridors. They eventually reached a door (that was _actually attached_ to a wall), but she surprised him by going past it and out a small, dark passage way he didn't see before. They went through it and came out into a small alleyway filled with long shadows from the sunset, covered from head to toe with cobwebs. (Leo was pretty sure he ate one at some point. Gross.)

She brushed herself off and continued through the alley (which, by the way, smelled of cat piss) to the wall at the very end, where she shoved her elbow against a metal box and _opened a panel in the wall_. Steel steps led down into the dark unknown, and a faint blue light was glowing somewhere in its depths. Leo, at this point, was seriously beginning to question this "job".

She turned around, grinned for the first time and asked, "Are you ready?"

Leo was pretty sure the answer was no, but he squeaked a "Yes?" anyway. (Who could resist a smile like _that_?)

"Perfect."

* * *

Together, Leo and his mysterious kidnapper descended the (questionable) staircase, their footsteps clanging too loudly against the metal. After an infinity and eight minutes, they reached yet another mysterious passageway (Leo was beginning to get sick of those) that the blue light seemed to originate from. A lot of twisting and turning through blue-lit halls led to a lone elevator. The girl placed her hand on a panel, and the doors opened.

The inside was sleek and modern. It consisted of stainless steel and mirrors, and was lit surprisingly well, considering the surroundings. There was elevator music playing, which he thought very out of place. Leo noticed, however, that there were no buttons. So it was a one-way trip... Hmm…

The elevator started moving, but instead of moving up or down, it moved _sideways_. Leo was somewhat intrigued. He absent-mindedly wondered what the point of a sideways elevator even was. Couldn't you just walk the distance? Leo came up with two explanations. One, the distance was really far, and walking it would kill the average American. Two, this was some sort of top-secret facility (well, he was pretty sure of the top-secret part) and everything beyond the elevator was either confidential or dangerous. After standing in the elevator for five awkward minutes, Leo came to the conclusion that it was probably both and he was tired. He sat down. Mystery girl glanced at him and raised an elegant eyebrow.

"What? I'm tired."

Silence.

"We just walked across half of America, and I never had lunch. Aren't I allowed to be just a little exhausted?"

She sighed and dug around in her bag. Eventually, she pulled out a granola bar and handed it to him. "Don't eat too much," was the only thing she said.

Leo looked from the granola bar to the girl. "Thanks," he said. He took a bite and almost choked. It was pure caffeine. He read the wrapper.

 **GROVER'S COFFEE-TO-GO**

 _Keeping you alert on the field and at home!_

 _High in nutrition and caffeine_

 _Made in a peanut-free facility!_

Well. That explained a lot. He gingerly took another bite and chewed. It actually tasted okay once he got over the bitterness of the caffeine. Another minute was passed in silence as Leo ate his caffeine bar and the girl tapped something into a sleek smartphone. He suddenly realized he still didn't know her name, so he wrapped up the remaining half of the bar and stuck it in the toolbelt that was strapped around his waist.

"So, what's your name?" he asked.

She stayed silent for a long time. Minutes later, when Leo almost gave up hope on her ever answering, she suddenly said, "Calypso."

"It suits you." Then, hoping to get a laugh out of her, he added, "I'm Leo, by the way," and stuck out his hand.

She didn't laugh, but at least there was a hint of a smile on her face. "Hello, Leo."

His hand was ignored, so he eventually put it down. "What's this job about, then? Because you kind of just walked into my shop and kidnapped me."

"It's probably best for you to find out when you meet the rest of the team. I wouldn't be able to explain it as well as them." He wondered why on earth they would send someone who didn't know how to explain his job to kidnap him. Crazy employers.

The next few minutes were spent in another heavy silence. Leo wondered if his job would consist only of hot girls and awkward silences. He supposed he wouldn't mind it _too_ much, but it would still be nice to have something to do. He looked down and found that he had dug out some old pipe-cleaners from his tool belt and had begun constructing a small, fully functional helicopter out of it. He smiled and continued his work.

Suddenly, the elevator lurched and began to move upwards. Leo looked questioningly at Calypso and opened his mouth to speak. Without looking up from her phone, she said, "Two minutes and forty-seven seconds." Leo wondered how she knew he was going to ask before he did. He decided not to ask her about it, as he really _didn't_ want to know. He went back to working on the helicopter, thumping his leg on the floor.

A minute passed. Then - "Would you quit that?"

Leo stilled. "What?"

"Stop jittering. It's annoying."

"Sorry...?" Leo stood. He suddenly found he was almost as tall as Calypso. Only an inch or two, and they might be the same height. The light of her phone washed over her face and smoothed over the harsh edges, making her look younger. Her light brown eyes reflected the light, rendering them unreadable. Then again, Leo had a feeling she was normally unreadable. In the back of his mind, he wondered if anyone ever saw behind the mask. Then…

"Ready to meet my team?"

The elevator lurched and came to a stop. The doors hissed open dramatically, and the acrid scent of smoke rolled its way in. Leo coughed and looked over at Calypso. She grinned cockily and stepped out into the haze. "Come along, Valdez. We don't want to be late." He must have imagined the murderous gleam in her eyes when the elevator doors had opened. Tentatively, he edged his way into the shin-deep sea of smoke, following Calypso's silhouette. They came out into a room where several people were choking, coughing, running around for water, and generally panicking over the tiny fires that had caught on some of their clothes. Also this huge chemical fire in the back of the room. That too.

Calypso sighed in a world-weary way. Leo screamed. One of them turned around and froze, then grinned as if he had been caught doing something he shouldn't have. The boy held up a hand in an awkward greeting. "Hi."

* * *

 **A/N: So I got this idea. I don't know if I'll be able to finish it, mostly because I'm bad at plots, so I am asking you guys to send in some suggestions for scenes or ideas you want to see! I won't use all of them, but if I'm out of ideas, I'll look through them XD**

 **I will try to update every 2 or 3 weeks, but no promises. I have a few chapters already written, and I will try to keep going. Thank you so much for reading and please review! I would love to see how I have done. Somebody _please_ tell me if I missed something while editing. Critiques are very welcome here, but no flames but Leo's :)**

 **EDIT: Formatting fixed!**

 **EDIT EDIT: Thank you to my friend who noticed a mistake! It's fixed!**

 **~Yumi**


	2. Breaking Leo

Calypso strode to the center of the room, pulled out a pistol (where did she _put_ that thing?) and shot the sprinkler over her head, causing a cascade of water to pour down and soak everything in the room. Fortunately, this included the fires. Unfortunately, this included Leo. The expressions of the original occupants made up for it, though. They stood, mouths agape, staring at Calypso, with water dripping into their eyes. One of those priceless "oh, why didn't we think of that?" moments. Leo would have laughed if he didn't notice something just then.

"Wait. Percy?"

"Oh. Hi, Leo. How's it going?" He offered a weak wave, his hand still up from earlier.

"Jason?"

"Uh… Hey, man. What's up?"

" _What?!_ "

"I thought you would have known what that meant, Leo. Well, I'll explain it to you. It means-"

"No! I mean. Yes. Wait, no. I mean… What?"

"You've already said that," intoned Percy helpfully. Calypso looked like she was trying really hard not to facepalm.

"What? Why are you… Who are you… What are you… WHAT THE HECK IS THIS?"

"Umm… A chemical fire?" said Percy. "Well, it _was_ a chemical fire." The blond girl next to him ran a hand down her face.

"No! You! Him! Calypso! Agh!" Leo pointed at each of them in turn and then threw his hands in the air and screamed to emphasize his point.

"I'm not getting you, man. You know, you were a lot more coherent the last time we spoke."

"Yeah," said Jason. "Maybe full sentences would be a little helpful? Just a little." He pinched his fingers together to illustrate just how little.

Leo began making unintelligible noises and gesturing wildly with his hands.

"Hey, Jason?"

"Yeah?"

"I think we broke Leo."

"Really? You think so?"

"Not sure… Seems like it though."

At this point, Leo had given up trying to get the two resident idiots to understand his bewilderment and turned to the others in the room, making the same gestures and hoping one of them would understand his (incomprehensible) explanation of his predicament.

"Why… Who… How… Help… Augh!" Percy gestured to continue encouragingly. "What is me? I mean. Where are this? I mean. What?" The world was spinning and he was feeling nauseous. He was going to puke.

"Bro, that's the third time you've said that."

Leo screamed and fainted.

* * *

When Leo woke up, he was sitting in an infirmary bed with a circle of faces surrounding him. He screamed (again). He internally wondered how many times he would that, then decided he would scream as much as he needed, thank you very much. Percy and Jason perched at the foot of his bed, and several other people had pulled up chairs. (To watch him sleep? These people were getting creepier by the second.) A gruff-sounding older man in a baseball cap declared Leo "mostly undead - good job, cupcakes".

Percy and Jason cheered. "Sleeping Beauty awakes!" said Percy.

 _Cupcakes?_ thought Leo.

"Whew! We thought you were concussed," said Jason. "You hit your head pretty hard on the floor."

His vision swam. It was too soon for this. Leo groaned and flopped back down, covering his face with the pillow. Though the fabric, he heard a girl chastising the two boys.

"We told you not to say anything. He's gone through enough without _you two idiots_ adding more stress. Shut up."

Someone cleared their throat, and Leo remembered. He sat up and took the pillow off his face. He looked around for Calypso. He found her standing in the corner of the room, the shadows giving her a mysterious and kind of creepy look. He bet she did that on purpose. One of the other girls followed his line of vision and startled a little, gesturing for Calypso to come over. She peeled herself off the wall and walked up to the edge of the bed, near Cupcake Man.

Seemingly uncertain of what to say under the circumstances, she paused for a moment, then asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Just peachy. Apparently I'm not dead." _Keep up the smile keep up the smile keep up the smile._ He would not allow himself to break down. Or puke. Or scream. Wait, nevermind. He would scream if he needed to.

"Wonderful," she said apathetically.

"No need to be _too_ enthusiastic, Sunshine," Leo muttered under his breath.

Pretending she didn't hear him, she carried on. "Do you want to know why you're here?"

This was sounding awfully like an interrogation. Leo nodded slowly, slightly unsure. What if they were evil and were kidnapping him so they could use him as a human sacrifice to commence world domination? Leo decided he was watching too many movies. He would stick to watching one at a time from now on. (Okay, maybe two at a time. He was a busy man.)

The blond girl near Percy spoke up. "You've been recruited as a spy," she said bluntly.

"A… spy?" Leo was beyond confused. He was bewildered. Flabbergasted. Some other long word that meant the same thing. Did this mean it really _was_ one of those movies? If so, did that mean he got to beat up bad guys? (He really hoped he got to beat up bad guys.)

"The higher-ups said we needed another agent. Preferably a mechanic, since we need better tech. Our old tech just doesn't do our missions justice. We did some research. A man was in the area and had no family ties. Nothing in the world except a small mechanic shop in the outskirts of a big city. If either the shop or the man disappeared, there would be no questions asked. Maybe he moved. Maybe he got a different job. No one was close enough to him to notice he was gone. Sound familiar?" On second thought, he really _didn't_ want to beat up bad guys.

"What? You can't just pluck me out of my old life and drop me into this! What if I don't want it?"

"Too late," said a quiet girl with wiry cinnamon hair. "You've been recruited and this is your life now. Trust me. You'll come to accept this life and move on past your old one."

"I don't even have a _choice_?" Leo was angry. These people uprooted him from the only thing he had known since… Since _that day_ , and they expected him just to play along with their stupid games? "No. You know what? You can take your spy business and bring it somewhere else. How old are you guys anyway? None of you could be over twenty! Is this some kind of game? Who do you think you are? The _FBI_ or something? What right do _you_ have to say what _I_ will do with _my_ life? What are you ge-"

"Leo!" Calypso slammed her hand down on the table. He startled. "Stop being so selfish! This is bigger than that! Bigger than you, bigger than me, bigger than all of us! The orders came straight from Olympus! She will destroy the planet, and if we don't _do something_ , we might as well be dead! We are the only reason there hasn't been a third World War, Leo! You might not understand right now, but you will soon. _This. Is. Bigger. Than. You._ " Her eyes were wild.

"Whoa, slow down, lady. Olympus? What are we in now? Some kind of mythological _storybook_? A _fairy_ tale? Let me tell you something. This is the real world. I don't know what you've all been on if you're really believing in this _delusion_ , but you just kidnapped me to tell me that some Greek _gods_ gave you some stupid orders, and I'm beginning to think you all belong in an asylum!" But something niggled in the back of his mind. Who was "she"? What was that World War thing about?

Calypso burned red, whether from anger or embarrassment, Leo couldn't tell. A girl Leo hadn't payed much attention earlier now spoke up. She was pretty, and looked oddly familiar. "Leo… Olympus Agencies Secret Intelligence Services is the company we work for. _OASIS_. Our branch was drafted from several different locations across America and around the world. This isn't the FBI, Leo. This is way bigger. Olympus is global, though we are currently centered in America. We are fighting against an unnamed terrorist group. All we know about them is that they seem to be completely global, each member having a different ethnicity and coming from a different country. They seem to answer someone called "Mother". This leads us to believe that the leader of the group is female."

Her words were a minefield, but her voice was soothing, like balm. Leo calmed down a little and sank back into the pillows. He crossed his arms. "And what does this have to do with me?" Terrorists were a distant thought to Leo. He didn't care for them. They never bothered him before, so why should he be involved now?

The answer left him reeling. "Leo… I thought you knew. She was the one who murdered your mother."

Leo threw up.

* * *

 **A/N: Um so yeah. Cliffy! The next few chapters might be a little intense in comparison to the earlier ones? I'll try to get back to the lighthearted tone from Chapter 1 eventually? I don't know... Meh. Read, Review, Edit! Or something. No flames please. I live in Canada. It's too cold for flames. Again, leave me ideas and things. (Man, this chapter has a crappy title. I don't even know anymore, guys. I just don't.)**

 **Merry Christmas!**

 **EDIT: I fixed the formatting! Yay! Also a few edits, but they don't change the meaning of anything, so... Meh!**

 **~Yumi**


	3. Interlude

Esperanza Valdez was a beautiful woman. The most beautiful woman in the world, in Leo's opinion. His mother was strong, independant, and managed to raise him on her own, all with a smile on her face and a laugh in her voice. Well, with a little help from Tia Callida, but that didn't count. Really, Tia didn't _help_ at all.

His earliest memory was sitting on a bench in the shop while his mother worked.

* * *

" _This is a wrench,_ mijo _," said Esperanza, leading his son by the hand through the shop. "When you're in the shop, you must be careful around all the tools, okay? They can be dangerous, and you can always hurt yourself. I want you to stay near me and keep away from pointy things." She set him down on a bench and poked his stomach for emphasis. Three-year-old Leo giggled, then looked up into his mother's eyes and nodded sagely. He didn't really understand, but Esperanza wasn't worried. Leo was smart enough not to play with things he shouldn't touch. She smiled at him and ruffled his hair, then sat down on the workbench._

 _She began to tinker with the small contraption on the table. Leo watched her work with rapt attention. Even in his young age, he loved machines. Something about the busyness and clanking noises calmed him and excited him at the same time. The machine shop was home._

* * *

She was the kindest and most understanding woman in the world.

* * *

 _Leo was four and friendless. No one had come to his birthday party. He sat by himself in the sheltered nook by the window and stared at the setting sun. It was bleeding. Like his heart. And maybe he was being melodramatic, but it still hurt to know that none of his friends cared enough to come. Tia was out shopping. His mother should be back soon from picking up his cake. Too bad there was no one to share it with. Tears blurred his vision. Nobody liked him._

 _The door opened. "_ Mijo _!_ _I'm home. Did your friends arrive yet?" Esperanza was back. Leo hid himself further into the nook. He didn't want to see anyone right now. Not even his mother._ No one _._

 _Esperanza came into the room. Leo wondered if it was possible to disappear entirely into the little alcove. Then maybe she would leave him alone._

" _Leo? Are you there?"_

" _No," came his muffled voice. "Go look for me in my room."_

 _Esperanza smiled to herself and came to the window. She gently pushed the curtains aside and sat down beside her son. He turned away, hugging his knees. She chuckled a little and pulled him into a hug, stroking his hair._

" _No one came," he said into her shirt. "I have no friends."_

" _It's okay,_ mijo _. I'm your friend, aren't I? We can have the best birthday party together."_

 _He looked up, eyes damp from stray tears. "Really?"_

" _Really."_

* * *

Even when he was naughty.

* * *

 _The vase fell off the table and shattered. A startled five-year-old Leo stared at the shards, hammer in hand. Seconds later, a harried Esperanza rushed into the room._

" _Leo! What happened?"_

 _Leo sniffled. "I'm sorry, Mommy… I just wanted to hold the hammer. I didn't mean to…"_

 _She smiled. "It's okay,_ mijo _. I didn't like that vase anyway." She came and knelt down by her son. "Let's clean up together, and then I will teach you how to use a hammer. Okay?"_

" _Okay!"_

" _Alright, go and grab the dustpan. I'll start picking up the pieces."_

 _Leo nodded and enthusiastically rushed off. Esperanza smiled after him. He was growing up._

* * *

They would be together forever. Happy. Family.

* * *

" _Mom! Look at me!" A beaming Leo stood at the top of the big rock in the park. He was a big boy now! He could finally climb the rock!_

 _Esperanza laughed - a bright, happy sound. "Good job,_ mijo _! Careful, okay?" She looked up at him from the base of the rock, picnic basket in hand._

" _Don't worry. I can take care of myself!" Leo was six. Of course he would be careful! He was almost a grown up, really. Almost._

" _That's good to hear." Esperanza was proud of him. He had been trying to climb that rock since the first time they visited the park. It seemed that he was finally big enough to reach._

 _Leo giggled as he paraded up and down the length of the rock, arms out. Esperanza followed him. Suddenly, Leo slipped on a patch of moss and began to tumble down. A million thoughts rushed through his mind. He was going to die! He was too young to die! He still hadn't climbed the rock at the pond yet!_

 _Leo squeezed his eyes shut. He landed on something, but it didn't feel like the ground. He opened his eyes. His mother smiled down at him._

" _That was quite a scare you gave me there,_ mijo _. Be more careful next time, okay? You're getting too big for me to catch."_

 _Leo hugged Esperanza. His heart was still racing. "The carefulest."_

 _Esperanza kissed him on the forehead and put him down. "Good boy. Now let's go have our picnic."_

* * *

He loved her.

* * *

 _Esperanza sat on the kitchen floor with seven-year-old Leo. They were learning Morse Code today. Well, Leo was learning. Esperanza was teaching him._

" _And this is "Z"," said Esperanza, tapping on the floor._

" _Z," he repeated, tapping it back. Two long, two short._

" _Good,_ mijo _." She smiled at him. "Do you want to try to say something now?"_

" _Yeah! This is awesome!" It was like they were spies! They even had their own secret language. Just him and his mom._

" _Alright, then. What do you want to say?"_

 _Leo thought about it for a while pensively. His face scrunched up and he placed a finger on his lips. Esperanza laughed inwardly. Then, he suddenly lit up and sat up straight. "I know! Tell me how to say "I love you"! And then we can say it to each other in our" -and here he dropped his voice to a conspirational whisper- "_ secret language. _"_

 _Esperanza was surprised, and pleasantly so. "Okay, here we go,_ mijo _."_

 **.. .-.. - …- . -.- - ..-**

* * *

He was eight when he started running.

* * *

" _MOM!" shouted Leo. He pounded on the heavy metal door._

" _It's okay,_ mijo! _I will be fine! Go without me!"_

" _No! Mom, I'm not leaving you!"_

"Go, _Leo! There's nothing you can do right now! Go and I will find you soon, okay?" He thought he heard tears in her voice. He had never felt so powerless in his life._

" _I love you, Mom…"_

" _I love you too,_ mijo _. Now get out of the building!"_

 _Flames licked at him from under the door. He took a step back, backing away as slowly as he could._

" _Oh, you poor child." Leo bumped into someone behind him. "Your mother is dying and there's nothing you can do." There was a scary smile on her face - sleepy and menacing at the same time._

" _Wh-What do you mean?"_

 _Her smile widened. Her eyes were covered with a dark veil. "People will fall around you and you will never be able to do anything about it. In fact, you will be the one to hurt them in the first place."_

" _You… You're crazy, lady!" But her words had hit the mark. It was exactly his greatest fear._

" _Oh, yes. I am." She turned around to go. "I will see you again, Leo Valdez."_

" _No, you won't!" said Leo. He was scared, but that didn't mean she had to know._

" _Really? Do you believe that?" The lady chuckled to herself, walking away. "I will find you, Leo Valdez. And on that day, I will kill you. You had better start running now."_

 _The world burst into flames._

* * *

Leo had waited near the burnt building for three days. His mother never came.

* * *

 **A/N: A bit of feels for all you Esperanza lovers. This chapter was basically just to give some insight into the past. Also, it makes a better transition than my other idea WHICH YOU WILL SEE HOPEFULLY IN THE NEAR FUTURE! I swear I'm writing. Just not updating/finishing... *awkwardly backs away***

 **So I don't know if the formatting and things are going to work. I just realized that all my formatting didn't save on the earlier ones! Ugh... I'll go back and fix it, and you can re-read if you want, but you don't really have to.**

 **And yet another serious chapter! I'm trying to bring it back to the snarky, light-hearted voice from before, but I don't know if the next chapter will stay like that! The story writes itself, after all. :D**

 **Read, review, and give me suggestions and edits! I love to hear from you guys. Thank you to all the reviewers on the last two chapters! You guys really do make my day.**

 **In other news, I just watched the new Star Wars, and it did NOT disappoint. I don't know if I'll survive until the next one! Gah!**

 **Thank you all again for reading, and keep the edits coming! :33**

 **~Yumi**


	4. Meet the Gang

Leo wandered around in a daze. His mother. The strange lady. It sort of made sense. It also sort of made him nauseous. Not that he wasn't already nauseous from the various events of the day. It had been a trying day for Leo, and he was ready to quit. Right after he got some answers.

Everyone had disbanded after Leo had fainted (again), opting to give him some space. Yeah, space was what he needed. A lot of it. Also a toilet, because he was going to puke (yet again). Scream, puke, faint, (lather, rinse) repeat. He could be a shampoo commercial.

After washing the horrible aftertaste out of his mouth (he was _certain_ his stomach was empty by now), Leo stumbled out of the bathroom and began to explore the room. He was basically Dora. Spanish and all. _Vaminos, amigos_! Let's go on the Train of Misery! First stop: Leo Valdez.

Leo decided he was becoming entirely too sarcastic. Then again, he just arguably had the worst day of his life. He doubted anyone was ever told their mother was murdered by some crazy terrorist lady and _then_ told they had to go into espionage to defeat said terrorist on the same day. (He hoped.)

The sick bay was spacious, but poorly lit. The middle of the room was bathed in a warm, inviting light under the single hanging lamp, but the edges were thrown into shadow. The effect was cliché, to say the least, and creepy, to say the most. There was a door at the other side of the room, and if this were a horror movie, Leo would have crept slowly toward the door as music built tension, then opened it on the creaky hinges to reveal a dark room and a badly CG-ed jump-scare. If this were a movie trailer, he would have suddenly turned around to dramatic music and noticed the door, then walked toward it as a narrative described (completely unrelated) events, then after a final, screechy build-up, it would cut to black just as his hand touched the doorknob. If this were a metaphor, he would have been stuck in the dark and oppressive room for all his life, then finally opened to door to new and brighter possibilities (and possibly sunshine and rainbows and ponies). If this were an interrogation room, someone would have strolled in just then and began torturing him for answers he didn't have. (Which was actually somewhat likely, but hopefully not true.)

Thankfully, it was just a dark sick bay in a thing called real life. Leo walked toward the door and opened it (AND SCREAMED BECAUSE THERE WAS AN UNKNOWN TERROR BEHIND IT THAT TRIED TO MAUL HIM- just kidding). Behind it was a better-lit hallway. Incandescent ceiling lights lined the hall - the kind that you would find in a school or laboratory. The hall twisted and turned a little, though it wasn't all that long. (In comparison to his adventure earlier in the day, nothing was anymore.) There were a few doors, but they had no windows and Leo had no self-destructive tendencies. Knowing spy movies, there would probably be explosives or dead bodies behind them.

At long last, Leo reached the end of the twisty hall, complete with a set of steel-and-glass double doors and a red "EXIT" sign like in a hospital. He opened them to what appeared to be a sort of living room. It was a decent size, but somewhat dim, even though there were about twenty lamps lying around the place haphazardly. Most of them were unplugged and several of them had broken lightbulbs that no one had bothered to replace. The dark carpet was worn and rather scruffy, and the walls had various scratches and burn marks. The overall impression was a shoddy living room shared by several rowdy roommates that had sword fights with flamethrowers in their spare time.

Strewn across several stainless steel coffee tables was paper of all sorts - official paper, homework paper, paper that needed to be signed, colourful paper, A4 paper, tissue paper, sticky-note paper, blank paper, origami paper (both folded and unfolded), and… Chinese handcuffs? (Looking back on it, Leo laughs. _Chinese handcuffs_. Pfft.) There were also mugs of what appeared to have once been coffee, but they were all either finished or spilled. Coffee stains lined the insides of the mugs and several sheets of paper and the carpet. (Leo swore he saw a coffee stain on the ceiling. How did it get there? _No freaking clue._ ) What really shocked Leo was the sheer _volume_ of it all. It was as if someone had taken three (hundred) years worth of material from an office-worker's desk and a college student's bedroom and the school recycling and threw it all at the ceiling fan (which had a broken lightbulb. Surprise, surprise). It belonged in an art museum. "The Mother's Nightmare". It would make millions.

 _-Snooooooooooore-_

Someone was sleeping on the couch. Leo jumped.

… Cupcake Man?

Now that he thought about it, Cupcake Man looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn't remember his name. Leo thought about waking him up to ask, but decided that it would be somewhat (read: a lot) creepy and stalker-ish, and opted to sneak silently out of the room instead.

He was a ninja.

Yeah, _ba_ by.

Leo edged around the massive piles of paper and coffee and were those crumpled tin cans? This room was too weird. And _whooooooa-_ _who_ put that sword there? Who even _has_ a _sword_ in their _living room_? Leo grumpily came to the conclusion that, yes, _these guys_ were crazy enough to have a _sword_ sticking out of their _coffee table_ so _everyone would die by impalement._ (Seriously. There were bloodstains on the tip of the sword that Leo really wished he hadn't seen.)

He would probably die in this room if he didn't get out soon. He quietly slipped out the door and into a spacious hallway.

It was very different from the first hall. It was... clean. In all honesty, it was really more of a lounge than a hallway. Leo wondered why they even needed the paper-filled living room if they had this sweet dorm-lounge-thing. It was well-lit and had several couches and coffee tables (and an absence of paper and coffee) in the centre.

The hall/room was long and rectangular, with a high ceiling and an open entrance on the other side leading to some sort of common area. The floorboards and the walls were both pale, giving the space an airy look. There were several doors along one wall while the other held a large, blank screen. A row of potted ivy hanging between the doors gave the room colour. One of the doors was open, and if this were a- (NO.)

Leo walked toward it, thinking that maybe the room would hold answers. What he found (sort of) shocked him (a lot).

"Beauty Queen?"

"Took you long enough."

Piper McLean grinned at him from the desk chair. He wondered why he didn't recognize her before. Oh, maybe because he was busy fainting and puking his guts out. (He was fairly certain he was missing his spleen or something at this point.)

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, this _is_ my room…"

"No, you know what I meant. Why are you here? With these people? I thought you were still in school?" Leo was utterly confused (to say the least).

"I am." She smiled mysteriously and tilted her head. With the light, her eyes shifted colour from blue to green.

"What?" Leo's new favorite word. What. He could get used to it. Hopefully he wouldn't need to.

"This _is_ school."

Leo groaned and flopped back onto the bed. She was being elusive again! He raised his arm and rolled his hand in a "carry on" gesture.

"Wilderness School was just a cover for OASIS. They took in kids that wouldn't be missed by society and began training them for the business. No one suspected a thing, and the kids didn't know anything until they "graduated", when they would continue into the training program for Olympus. You left too early to find out, though."

"So we went to spy school." His brain was fried (and then boiled and smashed on the pavement) from the information he was receiving today. React now, process later.

"Basically."

" _Awesome_."

Piper grinned. Her eyes turned a golden hazel as she leaned her head back. "Yeah."

"So did you graduate?"

"Not exactly. The school closed down two years ago because of an emergency. The students were sent off."

"Then why are you still here?"

"Remember Hedge?" That mysterious smile again.

" _You are_ not _saying…_ "

"Oh, but I am."

"No way!"

"Yes, way."

"Cupcake Man?"

"The one and only."

"Dude…" Leo laid there and stared at the ceiling light as he tried to process the fact that _Cupcake Man_ had been his former eccentric teacher. He suddenly propped himself up on his elbows. "Okay, but what has he got to do with it?"

"He recruited me for Mission Gaea." Leo gave her a blank look. "Gaea. The terrorist lady? That's what we're calling her."

"Oh. Right. Might I ask why?"

"World domination is her goal. Typical villain shenanigans."

"Ha, ha. Very funny."

"Isn't it?" Piper laughed, and Leo couldn't help but join. He would be lying if he said that finding an old friend in this insane place was not an utter relief.

Piper and Leo chatted for the remainder of the afternoon about terrorists and old friends and what they had been up to for the past six years. Sooner than he expected, an alarm clock beeped on Piper's nightstand. She glanced over at it.

"Dinner time. You ready to face the crowd?"

Yeah, how about _no_.

* * *

After fifteen minutes of sulking, Leo was forced to go to dinner anyway. He really did _not_ want to deal with Percy and Jason at the moment. It was too much. He might implode. Too bad Piper didn't think so.

The dining room was small but comfortable. It adjoined into the little lobby thing next to the lounge. There was a single long, long table in the middle, and little counters and tables around the perimeter. At one end of the room was a contraption with all kinds of (somewhat strange) food. There were various types of pizza, sandwiches, pizza sandwiches (?), pasta, steak, rice, potatoes (mashed and un-mashed), weird-looking Chinese dishes, and blue desserts. (Leo was more than willing to bet the blue food was Percy's.)

Seated around the table were a lot of people.

Said lot of people were all staring at him.

Lovely.

"Welcome back." The conversation started up again.

Calypso sat in the far corner of the room, a little apart from the others. Leo began to realize she didn't really belong with them. (In the back of his mind, he wondered why.) He followed Piper to a seat near Jason. Leo avoided eye contact at all costs, just in case. Piper grabbed him a slice of pepperoni and got herself a veggie burger. Leo dug in. He hadn't realized how hungry he was until he started eating.

The pizza was good. Really good. Leo went and got another slice and ate it as everyone gathered around the central table. Behind him, Calypso leaned against his chair.

"So now we're all here, let's get started."

"Yeah, you see, we're not all here," said Percy.

Calypso raised an eyebrow.

"Coach. He's still sleeping."

"... We can do without the chaperone for now."

Leo awkwardly munched on his pizza.

"First," Calypso said, turning to Leo, "Let's get you introduced. Leo, this is the Seven. "

"I see more than seven," said Leo.

Calypso ignored him. Leo was formally introduced to the More-Than-Seven. Percy and Jason he already knew (unfortunately), and Piper as well. The pretty girl with cinnamon hair was Hazel, the tall, Asian baby-man was Frank, and the blonde was Annabeth. They were, apparently, the "Argonauts", whatever that meant in terms of spy-world. Percy added that it was "Argonauts, Edition Two". Calypso said they were the field workers - the ones that did the physical spying.

There was also a red-head called Rachel and a gangly, acne-ridden guy named Grover. Leo was brought unpleasant memories of Grover's Coffee-To-Go. (He wondered if Grover had made the bar. The very thought made him shudder.) The two of them and Calypso were base workers and the recruitment team. They did, according to Rachel, all of the "actual work".

"Cool. Nice to meet everyone." He glanced at Calypso. "You said mechanic. Am I supposed to just make stuff for you guys?" Leo had decided over the course of talking with Piper and eating dinner that he might as well own up to this whole spy thing.

"Well, not exactly. There is some spying to be done as well. But..." There was a glint in Annabeth's eyes as she said this. Pulling out a laptop, she opened a 3D blueprint for a vehicle. "This is your first project. Think you can do it?"

The car looked _sweet_. "Yeah, _ba_ by!"

* * *

 **A/N: OKAY I AM SO SORRY GUYS. I just kind disappeared for like, what? A month? Anyhow, this chapter was just refusing to be written, and on top of that I had finals and new teachers that give out a lot of homework... I'm really sorry.**

 **I kinda lose my muse for a while? So i'm really sorry if the ending seems rushed or if the writing style is weird. I just honestly didn't know what to write anymore.**

 **I'll be taking a break for a while and catch up on writing. I'll try to write maybe 3 or 4 chapters before I start posting again? I'm sorry, but I don't know how long it'll take. I'll be on a trip with no electronics for the first week of spring break, but I promise that I will write as much as I can when I get back!**

 **So yeah. Hiatus. I would say don't expect me back until maybe end of April/May? If I don't have 3 chapters written by then, I'll post something anyway. If I don't, someone please nicely rage-quit at me. Thank you. No whining about updates before then, though!**

 **Uuuuuugh I am really done with this chapter. If there are mistakes, message me or leave it in the reviews! On the topic of reviews, I am really sorry I didn't reply to all the reviewers! I promise that I am reading and cherishing everyone's reviews. So leave your reviews, because I DO read them and am actually really excited to see what people think!**

 **Just like in all the other chapters, leave any suggestions you have for where the story could go, or if you feel a character could be better in some way. Constructive criticism, but no flames!**

 **Thank you all for your incredible patience! I love all of you readers so much :33**

 **(Apologies for the long and serious a/n lol)**

 **~Yumi**


	5. Titan

"Check, one, two. Can you hear me?"

"Clear as day."

"Great. You know what to do. Get the codes and get out."

"Yeah, yeah. I know what to do.. We've been over this a million times." Leo rolled his eyes at Rachel's excessive mothering as he zoomed down the highway.

" _Make sure_ they don't see you!"

"I got Festus. It's all good."

A new voice butted in. "I _still_ don't understand why we named the car Festus."

"Shush, Jason. We've been over this, too. The answer is just 'cause." (Also, because the best thing he had ever made was named Festus, too. But they didn't need to know that.)

Jason sighed, and Percy snickered. In the back seat, Annabeth rolled her eyes. Every mission. Every last one. The Festus conversation was protocol by now.

Riding in Festus with Leo were Annabeth, Hazel and Piper. Jason and Percy were on their motorbikes. (Anyone remember Blackjack? Well, yeah. Jason was apparently a racer, too.)

"Hey, Seaweed Brain. Concentrate. You're drifting."

Percy saluted and straightened Blackjack out. "Aye, ma'am. But you know, Jason, you should really learn to appreciate the naming of vehicles more. Tempest is hardly a creative name."

"... Blackjack is named after a card game you don't even know how to play."

"Still better than Tempest."

"Hey, idiots. Shut up. This is supposed to be a secure line. Not for your socializing convenience." Salty much, Calypso? Leo wondered what got _her_ all riled up. She was usually nicer on the comm. Usually being the key word.

Tonight, they were infiltrating Titan's old headquarters. Titan used to be a big-shot computing company until a couple years ago, when Olympus found they were working with what used to be an unnamed terrorist group and shut them down. Last mission, they found out that Gaea actually had a company named Gaea Enterprises (they were all flabbergasted that they had gotten her name right) that had bought Titan _years_ ago. Seemed like she had been planning for world domination since forever.

The old headquarters were mostly abandoned by now, but they didn't want to take chances. It was more than likely that Gaea would have kept the security system running case anyone came looking for intel. The team would be splitting up. Annabeth and Piper were to be scouting the north wing, and Jason and Percy would search the south wing. To be honest, Jason and Percy didn't work that well together, but Annabeth and Percy were forbidden to go anywhere alone after the garage incident by Coach. Leo and Hazel would stay hidden until they were sure the coast was clear, then go and do their hacking thing. Hazel was about as out-of-sync with the modern world as you could get, but she was _brilliant_ at hacking. (Oh, the irony.)

In case there was any confusion, Frank was stuck at HQ, sick, with only Coach and chicken soup for company, as Rachel and Calypso were on duty, and Grover was on a recruitment mission. Leo imagined Coach sitting at Frank's bedside, telling him to _man up, Cupcake, and get better_ while force-feeding him soup and Tylenol. The thought cheered him up.

The dilapidated factories came into view. They would be stopping and hiding their vehicles behind a factory and going on foot to the main building from there.

"Festus, run a scan of the buildings. Life-forms and explosives, please."

The speakers whirred and clicked in reply. Yeah, Festus could talk. Suck on that, Jason. (Percy called himself a "bike-whisperer" and would often tell Blackjack that he couldn't have donuts. Leo was very concerned for his mental health. Still is.)

Slow, steady beeping filled the car (which was soundproof, if you were wondering) as Festus scanned the metal skeletons. They looked dead against the scant stars and the midnight sky, imposing and black like talons or prison walls. Leo really hoped they wouldn't collapse on the road. That would sort of ruin the point of a "stealth mission".

They looked like they were once huge, but time and a couple of bombs (courtesy of OASIS, of course) had worn them down. They lay low on the ground, burnt and crumbling and defeated, curled in on themselves like the losing side of a wildfire. He wasn't taking chances, though. He couldn't afford to. Not after that time.

Festus whirred, and Leo was saved from his mind. Distraction from his mission would not be appreciated at the moment. He pressed a button to camouflage the car.

"You're coming in, guys," said Rachel. "You'll be hiding your cars behind that building over there, second-to-last at… North-north-west." A glowing dot appeared on the built-in GSP on Festus's dash. "See it?"

"Gotcha," replied Percy, pulling off the main road toward the building. Leo and Jason followed.

The back of the factory was blown open. Leo stepped out of the car and walked over to where Percy and Jason were. The girls joined them. A cold draft blew in through the hole in the wall, and Leo was glad for his thick, black jacket.

"Is everyone ready?" asked Jason, the mission leader. Nods all around. Leo grinned. As the months went by, he had found that his favorite part of the spy business was the thrill of the missions. Of course, the last time he had gotten carried away, it wasn't pretty. (Leo's nightmares were still haunted by the sound of alarms and Calypso's expression of pure _murder._ )

"And three… two… one…" Rachel paused over the comm as if looking at her watch. "Go."

Pulling down infrared goggles over their ski masks, the team headed off.

* * *

The inside of the main building was dark, ominous, and _cold_. Leo missed Texas.

Crouching in the corner of the empty hallway with Hazel and trying not to sneeze or fidget was _hard_. His back was frozen from being pressed again the metal walls, but he didn't dare to move. He attempted to shift his focus away from his discomfort on to something else by peering down the hall. Through the goggles, the world was green. He turned a dial on the side, and it switched to thermal vision. His own invention. Apart from Hazel at his side, there was no movement, so he switched it back. Settling back against the hard corner, he pushed his goggles on top of his head. Hazel rolled her eyes behind her own goggles and turned her head down the hall to keep on lookout. Leo tapped a gloved hand on his arm in boredom as he listened to the other side of the mission happening through the comm.

"North Wing. Have you guys found anything yet?" Jason whispered.

"Nope," replied Piper.

"It's weird here," said Annabeth. "There's no life at all. No heat signatures or anything. But this area seems as if it's regularly in use. The computers are all fully functioning. Stay alert."

"That's _my_ line," whined Percy.

"Shut up."

"Only if you make me." Leo could _hear_ the smirk on his face.

"Guys, stop flirting and get working," said Rachel. His sentiments exactly. "Wrench-head, have you sent me the layout map yet?"

Crap. So that was what he was forgetting. (Also, _Wrench-head_? _That_ was his mission name? So very creative, _Rachel_.)

"Uh, gimme a mo," he said, fiddling with his phone. He opened an app and set it on the floor. Blue pulsed dimly across the screen as it scanned the floors and walls of the building. Sonic technology. It allowed Leo to download the entire floor plan _and_ whatever else they might have added onto his phone. Of course, another invention of his. The coding still needed some polishing, though. He was currently working on enabling the app to scan and name technology, too. Knowing beforehand which computer he would be dealing with would be ever so helpful.

Enough about the techno-babble. Focus on the mission.

Leo's phone _ding!-_ ed and a pop-up told him, _Scan complete! Put on some clothes, Cupcakes!_ Oh, did he mention that he had programmed the app to quote Coach Hedge? (Yeah, he was pretty awesome, if he did say so himself.) Grinning, he sent the layout and the pop-up message to Rachel. She would get a kick out of it, though some else (cough, Calypso, cough) might not.

Putting his phone away, he settled in for another estimated three minutes and forty-eight seconds as Rachel and Calypso searched the layout for the mainframe, watching the shadows from the moon play over the wall from the open window.

"No signs of life, and we've searched the whole building," Piper said presently. "We'll start on part two. Team C, you can move out now. Stay on alert."

"Yeah, once command sends us the coordinates." In approximately two minutes and twenty-seven seconds. He closed his eyes and prepared to wait.

"How has adjusting been?" The question came out of the blue and hit him over the head. He looked over at Hazel. Her gold eyes stared at him through the green tint of her goggles.

"Fine. It's been… fine. Why do you ask?"

She shrugged. "Boredom. Concern. Take your pick."

Leo gave a small smile. "Yeah, it's a lot better, now that I'm over the initial shock. Man, that first week was _horrible_ ," he chuckled. Hazel snorted at the memory. The two of them sat in silence for the next minute and twenty-three seconds, when Calypso's voice came over the comm.

"Okay, I've sent you the coordinates. Also, _really_?"

"Serves you right. " _Wrench-head",_ " replied Leo offhandedly, already tapping his phone.

"Blame Rachel, not me."

"We'll have a long discussion later. But for now, _ciao_. Cinnamon roll, we're off." Leo stood and slid his goggles back down.

"Who, me?" Hazel looked confused.

"Yes, you."

"Why cinnamon roll?"

"Why not?" he grinned. "Less talking, more mission-ing! Now _come on_. We've got places to be and stuff to do."

" _Careful_ out there," said Calypso. "You heard what was said. This place is weird." Psh. Like he _wasn't_ going to be careful (but let's forget last mission).

"Profound words of wisdom by Owl Face.."

"Watch it, _Wrench-head_." Leo could feel her glowering over the comm.

"Sorry," he whispered. He really needed to start watching his words.

Percy snickered. Someone sighed exasperatedly, followed by Jason's, " _Every single mission. Every last one_." Well, it wasn't _his_ fault command came up with horrible names. He would have to bring that up next meeting.

Pistol in hand (under the guidance of the Wise One, of course), Leo made his way to the first turn in the hall. Thermals showed no signs of life, so he jerked his head and indicated to Hazel to follow him around the corner.

As they headed down the empty corridor, Leo's phone set a loop on the security cameras, just in case. Oh, the benefits of technology. No more fiddling around with the cameras. All you need is the type and model, and Buford will do it for you. (In case there was any confusion, Buford was Leo's phone.)

At each corner, they stopped and checked for people, just in case the preliminary sweep missed something. It was almost too easy. There was nobody in the entire building apart from their own team. The halls were identical. Dark, steel gray, some halls glowing silvery-blue by the sliver of moonshine coming in through the windows. The gaping windows of the doors stared at them from the wall, and Leo was feeling more than a little paranoid that they were being watched.

They made it to the room containing the mainframe without seeing a single soul, and Leo was about ready to scream. It could not be that easy. Something was going to go wrong. Titan once had thousands of workers and high security, but they were just _breezing in._ An alarm was going to go off or something. Leo could _feel_ it.

They snuck into the room (and the alarms were yet to go off) and made their way through the rows of computers. At the end of the room was the mainframe, and as soon as they reached it, Leo began fidgeting with the controls while Hazel notified the rest of the team.

"We're in," said Hazel.

"Good job. Stay in," replied Calypso.

"That's what she said," muttered Percy absently.

Calypso sputtered over the comm at a complete loss for words while Leo snickered and Annabeth sighed. He looked over at Hazel, and found her blushing furiously, obviously uncomfortable and trying to hide it by starting up the computer and typing frantically. He hid a grin and plugged in a USB. No point in getting Buford accidentally scrambled.

Silence.

Leo hated it.

"We almost done?" he asked over her shoulder.

"Eep!"

"Constant vigilance," he quipped.

Taking a few breaths to calm herself, she went back to typing and huffed, "Yeah, yeah. Almost there. Just a few lines left."

"Wrench-head!" said Rachel. "I never knew you were into Harry Potter!"

"Should've mentioned something sooner, Weasley," he grinned.

"Har, har."

"Shush, guys. You can talk about your nerdy wizard stuff _after_ the mission." Way to be a killjoy, Calypso. (Not that he would _ever_ say that in her presence. He'd probably get castrated or something.)

"Okay, we're good," said Hazel she sat back and cracked her knuckles.

"Great. Hurry up so we can leave these creepy ruins."

Rolling her eyes, she pressed enter and sounded the alarms. Well, crap.

"Well, crap," said Leo.

* * *

 **A/N: AGH I AM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG. After my writer's block, it took a while to get back into it, and i'm trying to write a few chapters before i submit anything. This used to be one long monster chapter over double of my usual chapter lengths, but I cut it so i could do another update eheh... I have finals soon, so the next update might not be for a while, unless i finish chapter 7 by finals week, which i doubt. So. I'll try to update by the end of June. I've started to kinda write when the next estimated update will be on my profile, which you can all check from time to time to know where i am with writing.**

 **So yeah! As usual, read, review, and give your good advice! I'm always up for suggestions for what you want to see in the updates, and I read all the reviews, even if i don't reply... eheh i should start replying to them. Anyhoo, i hope you enjoyed this sort-of-filler chapter, and stay tuned for the next one!**

 **~Yumi**


	6. Holy Crap Everyone Run

"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO BE CAREFUL!" screamed Calypso.

"Shoosh! I am the carefulest!"

"Sorry," mumbled Hazel.

"Get out of there, guys!" shouted Jason. "The security system was tripped!"

Grabbing the USB and Buford, Leo and Hazel booked it.

"No, really?" snarked Leo. "I _never_ would have guessed!"

"Left!" shouted Hazel. The two of them careened down the hallway on their left just as two figures holding guns appeared in the hall.

"I thought you guys said there were no people!" Hazel seethed. "Duck!" The two of them hit the ground. A shower of bullets came from behind.

"There _aren't_!" replied a frantic Piper. She _umm_ -ed and _ahh_ -ed as if typing. "There's still only two humans inside, and they're you."

Annabeth took over. "Festus just scanned the building. They're all robots. While they can't move very fast, they shoot _very_ accurately."

"Yeah, we've noticed!" shouted Leo. "Ah! Right, right, right!" They slid down the hall on their right. Behind them, the ceaseless footsteps pounded around the corner and stopped to shoot.

She ignored him and continued, "The faster you move, the less holes you'll have. We'll go with Plan Delta."

"What? Why?" asked Hazel. "Left!" Bullets imbedded themselves in the wall inches behind them.

"That's a horrible plan," intoned Percy.

"Like you have a better one?"

"Just do something unpredictable. It'll throw the robots off."

Annabeth huffed something about impulsive boyfriends and stupid Seaweed Brains.

"Wait, hold on. Robots?" exclaimed Leo, just realizing what Annabeth had said earlier. "Are you serious? What is this, sci-fi?" They ducked into another hall. "NO, BACK! BACK! BAD IDEA!" he screamed as robots appeared at the end of the hallway.

"A little slow on the uptake, aren't you?" smirked Piper.

"Shush. I'm trying not to dieeeee-" he lingered on the last syllable, yelping as Hazel suddenly grabbed his hand and yanked him down the stairwell. "AGH!" he steadied himself and ran in tow behind her. "Are you crazy? We'll get trapped in there!"

"Robots, remember? They don't like stairs. Trust me!" Bullets lodged themselves into the door, leaving indents in the steel. Leo flinched.

"Yeah, but what happens when we want to get out?"

"Don't worry about it," came Jason's voice. "We'll cover you."

Annabeth continued explaining the robots. "Titan had just begun making androids in its last year of business. They were flawed, so they were never released to the public. They called them "Monsters". Lethal war machines used to defend Titan's base." She paused for a second. "Percy and Jason are in."

"Monsters? Are you actually serious?" They were on the second floor by now.

"Yeah," said Piper. "We've run into them on missions a couple times. They have insane tracking systems. Thermal based, so you can't escape them. Luckily, the guns are manual and delayed. Otherwise we'd all be dead by now. Not good at hand to hand, so if you can't blow them up, disarm them."

"Lemme guess, Titan sold them to Dirt Face." They paused, panting, just above the ground floor door and loaded their guns, waiting for the distraction to come.

"Dirt Face?" asked Percy.

"She plays dirty. Hurry up, Kelp-Head!"

"I take offense to that." The _click_ of a gun being loaded came over the comm, then-

"We're here," said Jason. The beautiful sound of robots being blasted to pieces by detonating bullets (courtesy of the one and only Leo Valdez) drifted from the other side of the door.

"Titan did sell all the androids," Annabeth said, "but not to Gaea. The monsters all belong to Tartarus, a subdivision of the Underworld. She bought them off Tartarus's market. Also gets her manpower there, too."

" _What?!_ "

"The Underworld," explained Piper. "Black markets, human trafficking, underground fighting and the like. Only, more politically targeted than the general crime underworld. We have to deal with them, too."

"Well, that makes our lives just _sooo_ much easier, doesn't it?"

"It does," stated Jason calmly. "Three… Two… One…"

Leo and Hazel quickly slipped out the door and sprinted down the corridor with Percy and Jason, firing at the occasional robot (Monster?) behind them as they went.

"You guys are explaining this to me later!"

"Yeah," replied Percy, "but do you have the intel?"

"Why would I not?"

"I copied everything," said Hazel. "Every file, even the passcode-locked ones." She paused and turned around to shoot at the robots.

"But what if it was erased?" asked Jason.

"Buford has a recovery system."

"Then what happened last time?" shouted Percy from ahead of them.

Leo gasped. "Don't insult Buford! It's not _his_ fault! Besides, he didn't _have_ a recovery system last time!" A line of robots appeared around the corner and formed a wall in front of the exit.

"Alright, guys," grinned Percy. "Ready to blow up some robots?"

"Yeah, _ba_ by!"

Hazel nodded determinedly.

"On my count!"

"No, mine!" shouted Jason.

"No time! Now!"

"Wait, n-" Jason was cut short by exploding robots. "Argh…" He dove into the battle and cut at the remaining droids with his knives. "I thought I told you to wait!"

"They were going to shoot!"

"Boys! Fight now, argue later!" ordered Hazel. Wow, Leo didn't know she had it in her.

"I second that," said Piper.

"We're bringing the bikes over," Annabeth added. "Festus is on autopilot. 30 feet from the exit. Think you can make it without dying?"

"Great," said Percy. Turning to face Leo and Hazel, he added, "You two run out ahead. Sparky and I will cover you."

"Got it," said Hazel. She kicked down the lock on the door and gestured for Leo to run at it.

"What?" he exclaimed.

"Automatic lock. No time! Hurry!" (read: We don't have enough time to to recalibrate the lock, so you're just going to have to bodycheck the door.)

Leo grimaced and ran, bracing himself for impact. He slammed into the door and stumbled outside, rubbing his shoulder.

"Go, go, go!" shouted Jason.

Leo and Hazel sprinted toward the vehicles, Percy and Jason behind them. Festus was idling with open doors, Annabeth and Piper already inside. Just as they reached the car, a bullet grazed Leo's injured shoulder. Hissing, he covered it with his hand and signaled for Hazel to jump into the driver's seat. They dove in, doors slamming closed. Percy and Jason jumped onto their bikes, and they were off into the night, alarms blaring behind them.

* * *

 **A/N: I'M SO SORRY GUYS I left y'all on a total cliffhanger please shoot me so I can match Leo. So yeah. I'm really sorry, but I like to be a chapter or two ahead, and the next chapter was refusing to be written! It's total filler atm, not even useful, so I'm considering cutting it (again) and rewriting 1000 words.**

 **Really sorry, guys... IB will be properly starting in 2 weeks, and I already have some homework (almost wrote homestuck there i am trash), so again, I'm so so sorry if I can't update for a while 0n0 I normally write super slow, but with even more homework (i just did it again! agh!), I don't know how long it will take! It might be a few months...**

 **Just thank you guys so much for understanding, and feel free to leave reviews screaming at me to update! Just do it nicely, please 0u0.**

 **As always, tell me if I can fix anything, and give me ideas for what you want to see in the future! The majority of the plot is still open ended.** (but i do have an ending in mind **) I really do read all the reviews, even if I don't reply to them. I love hearing from y'all crazies. It warms my stone-cold heart.**

 **If you're ever curious as to when I'll update next, I try to keep a status report on my profile that should update every once in a while. More often than the story, at least... orz**

 **See you in chapter 7!**

 **~Yumi**

(spoiler alert?)

 **And for the reviewers who asked where Nico is, well... it's complicated ;)**


	7. The Path of War

The setting sun painted the sky with blood and bruises. War was marching down its swift path toward them and the heavens were already stained with its marks.

* * *

 _A man knelt in the dim, cavernous room, fist over his heart. "Mother."_

" _Speak."_

* * *

A lone soldier stepped out of the building. His dark hair shifted slightly in the faintly warm breeze. It was the time of day when the cold night air began to sink and swirl to the ground, chasing away the aridly muggy afternoon heat.

* * *

" _The old headquarters have been infiltrated."_

" _Is that so?" The woman's painted nails drummed rhythmically against the stone arm of her chair. One, two, one, two - to the beat of imaginary war drums._

* * *

The twilight streets were empty and the air burned his throat. He scanned the buildings. Abandoned, of course. Had there been sign of life, he would not have been there.

* * *

" _Several legions of monsters were destroyed. There are bullet and explosives marks on the walls and several doors have been destroyed."_

" _Interesting. Did they take anything?" One, two, one, two._

" _There are signs of tampering with the mainframe. We suspect they took the plans."_

* * *

Sand flurried through the air. He pulled up his mask and stepped onto the street.

* * *

" _Good."_

* * *

He stopped. Looked back into the tiny dark doorway with its fluttering rags, the door long lost in a windstorm. He did not look long. He straightened. Mother knew best, after all.

* * *

 _A smile spread slowly across Mother's face, just visible below her veil, beautiful and terrible. The drums stopped._

* * *

The dusty street beckoned. His footsteps would be the only sign he was there.

* * *

" _Let them come."_

* * *

When war came, he would be ready.

* * *

 _ **5 days later | 11:48am**_ _(unknown time zone)_ _ **| Argo Base, middle of nowhere, ?, USA**_

"Status report?"

"Clickity-click-click, Weasley."

Rachel sighed. "Thought so. Hazel?" A cloud of gold fluttered and settled as Hazel shook her head. "Terrific." Rachel took a long, noisy sip of her triple shot caramel frappuccino. "Well, I haven't found anything either. Whoever did this, I hate them. They're a genius, but I hate them."

"Ditto," yawned Leo. He attempted to stretch and immediately regretted it. Searing pain created black dots that swam across his vision. It had almost been a week since the mission and his shoulder was still healing. It would be another month until he was allowed to do anything strenuous at all, and two before he was allowed on the field again. Thankfully, it was only a flesh wound (but it _hurt_ ). He screwed his eyes shut and waited for the pain to pass.

Annabeth glanced at him briefly, then shut her laptop. "I call break. We're not getting anywhere and we all need some proper food."

Rachel threw up her arms. "Oh, _bless you_! Froot Loops, here I come!" She flounced out of the room, leaving behind an empty Starbucks cup that was steadily rolling toward the floor.

" _Proper food_ ," Annabeth muttered. Leo made sure Buford was still running to while they were gone, then stood up to leave. "You should go get your shoulder checked again."

"Yeah." The empty cup hit the floor with a flimsy, plastic thud.

* * *

The infirmary was cold, but Calypso was colder. She had been mad at him for the past week for ruining his shoulder. One less person for patrol. One more person to bother her.

"Sit down. Jacket off." Leo complied. Calypso got to work redressing the wound. Some of Juniper's weird grass salve went on.

"So. Nice weather we're having."

Calypso put on fresh gauze. Her hands were cool against his skin. There was a moment of silence. "It's a little rainy for my taste."

She still sounded mad, but at least she was talking. Improvement from the day before. "Yeah? Well, it _is_ winter."

Calypso finished bandaging his shoulder and sat back. She fiddled with the tape roll. "I'm an islander. I'm used to the sun."

"Who needs the sun? We've got you, Sunshine." He smirked, but inside, he was elated. Calypso rarely ever shared anything about herself (as was evident in how long it took for Leo to even learn her _name_ ).

She looked surprised. Leo could have sworn he saw a smile before her face faded back to passive anger. "Don't call me that." She didn't mean it.

"Well, since you're such a _ray_ of _sunshine_ all the ti-" She smacked his (uninjured) shoulder.

"Lunch time. Get dressed."

"Yes, Mom." He rolled his eyes. Painfully, (and with more help than he was willing to admit) he was able to shimmy his arms into his button-up. At least he wasn't wearing a shirt that involved neck-holes. He shuddered at the thought.

Leo followed Calypso through the maze of halls that he was now almost familiar with. He absent-mindedly picked at the edges of his bandage, staring at the pipes on the ceiling.

"Quit it."

"Sorry, Sunshine." She gave him a half-hearted contemptuous look and he grinned.

Lunch was ordinary as it could get in the Argo. (Leo still had no idea why they insisted on naming the base after a ship.) Percy, for a blessed meal, did not eat any blue food. Leo may or may not have started a food fight. Piper and Grover ate grass or something. Ordinary.

Halfway through the meal, Jason and Frank came in, shedding their jackets.

"Hi, guys," said Frank.

"Hi, Frank," Percy and Leo said in unison. Calypso heaved a sigh.

"Anything interesting?" asked Rachel around a mouthful of cereal.

Frank shook his head and grabbed a slice of pizza. "No. We had some time earlier, so we checked Titan again. The monsters are still there, exactly where we left them."

Calypso gave him a sharp look. "Who gave you clearance to go back?" Frank stuttered, his face an alarming shade of _oh crap_.

Jason rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I did." She glared and he held up his hands in defense. "We live in the middle of nowhere! We did our rounds and I thought there wouldn't be any harm in doing some extra surveillance."

"Do you not remember what happened last time?" she hissed.

Jason drew back. "This isn't about last time."

"It is! The same thing could have happened if you weren't careful!"

"We were careful! I checked the perimeter and we kept up communication the whole time."

"Because that helped so much last time."

" _Last time_ wasn't my fault!" he said. Leo could see in Jason's face that he didn't believe himself.

"Guys," said Piper. "Stop it."

"Oh, so _now_ it isn't your fault? Moping around the way you did, I would have thought you believed it was!" Jason winced. "And not only that, you became a _detriment_ to the team by being reckless!"

"He was a part of our team and he was lost under my watch!"

"Well, maybe he didn't want to be a part of the team!" burst out Hazel before she clapped her hands over her mouth.

"GUYS!" Piper slammed the table.

Just then, a loud bang sounded upstairs. They all froze. Shuffling started and stopped. Silence. Jason switched off the safety on his gun. Uneven steps stumbled down the hall and down the stairs. Leo turned and saw that everyone else had drawn their guns and were pointing them at the doorway. He placed his hand over his own. _Bang, bang, bang_ and the beat of Leo's own heart thudding in tandem. They jumped as the sound of a door violently slamming open echoed through the building. More steps now. They tripped clumsily closer and closer to the dining hall.

Nothing for a second, then-

A scrawny boy drowning in a tattered aviator jacket came careening down the hall and crashed into the wall at the corner, shaggy black hair hanging in front of his face. Percy's gun clattered to the floor.

Hazel screeched and rushed forward. "Nico?" The boy looked up briefly (dark shadows stained the skin below his haunted eyes) before he collapsed into her arms.

The room burst into chaos.

* * *

 **A/N: yikes... not my proudest work, but I struggled a lot with this chapter and i'm really glad I finally got it done. It's a little rushed and so far, the next chapter has been quite repetitive. anyhoo. here you go, kiddos.**

 **For those who don't follow me on tumblr/haven't checked anywhere else, i'm now posting updates for progress and whatever on my tumblr (yumikat) under the tag "stiw updates". I've checked, and no one else is using the tag (i think, but maybe someone else is using this dumb acronym), so you could just follow the tag if my tumblr isn't for you. You can also bother me there for ideas you have about this fic or anything at all. I check tumblr a lot so if you message me, i'll probably see it!**

 **Poll time! I have two questions for you guys.**

 **1: do you prefer if I take longer hiatuses but have a few chapters queued up for you guys, or would you prefer slightly shorter hiatuses but one chapter at a time?**

 **and 2: should I co-post this on ao3/tumblr/any other platforms that you guys prefer? i mean I love but man the font is so small. it bothers me a lot. Also the site itself has really ugly formatting. That's literally the only reason I hate it. Formatting. Ew.**

 **As always, review and leave your suggestions for what you want to see in the future, because while I have a vague idea for where I want this to go, i am abysmal at plots.**

 **Thank you guys so much for your patience. You're all the best and I cherish each and every review i get from you guys. Love y'all.**

 **~Yumi**


	8. Aftermath

The infirmary wasn't any less cold with an extra body in it. Nico dozed fitfully in the corner, pale skin feverish and clammy, as Leo went went in for his daily checkup.

"What were you arguing about?" he asked. Calypso looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. "Yesterday. You and Jason."

Her eyes hardened. Yanked off the bandage. "Nothing," she muttered.

"OW! And I seriously doubt that," said Leo as he rubbed the tender skin next to the wound. Calypso smacked his hand. Rusting came from Nico's direction as he turned in his slumber and they froze. Grover and Coach had fixed him up as well as they could (Nico's injuries were far beyond Calypso's knowledge), but the boy was still painfully thin. An IV drip was connected to his paper arm and a heart-rate monitor rhythmically beeped out assurance of his life.

Calypso remained still until Nico stopped moving. Leo furrowed his brow as Calypso pulled out a strip of new bandage.

"Was it him?"

"You're going to need to be more specific than that," she said, stone faced.

"Nico." He took her hunched, defense posture as affirmation. "What happened?"

" _Nothing_."

"No, something happened and I think I have the right to know."

Calypso silently re-dressed the wound before she spoke. "We thought he was dead." Leo didn't know what to say to that, so he stayed still and waited for her to continue. "There was an… incident. Afterward, Nico became angry and reckless. We lost him on a solo mission to the Underworld. He was supposed to be shutting down one of the main crime bosses, but he took the mission into his own hands and did a side-quest to a trafficking ring. They ambushed him. Monsters. We think he fought back instead of calling for help. He didn't answer, but sometimes that happens on missions when it's dangerous to talk, so we didn't think much of it. We didn't see him the next day when he was supposed to be back so we went out to look for him. There it was. His comm on the ground among the debris of smashed monsters. We followed his trail, but apparently not far enough." Calypso sat back. Her eyes were fractured ice and Leo began to see why she was so cold. "We even had a funeral."

Leo frowned. "Then what was Jason talking about? The blame?"

"Jason was manning the comms that night. He blames himself for not reacting fast enough and getting help to him on time. He let his grief take over him and he almost lost an arm on patrol. We all tried to reason with him but…" She trailed off and looked over at Nico. "We should leave him to rest." She helped Leo thread his arm into his hoodie sleeve and walked over to adjust the controls and fiddle with the IV. Leo stretched and left her to finish. He knew better than anyone what it was like to grieve.

* * *

Leo's room was a mess. Annabeth's blueprints were strewn all over the table and floor, small objects he was tinkering with holding them down. He kicked a half-finished prototype for a helmet to the side and flopped down (carefully, watch the shoulder) on his bed. Above his head, amber pinpricks of light shone from the round, metal lamp. He was tracing constellations and recounting their stories to pass the time when he heard Hazel's door creak shut, the handle clicking softly into place. Moments later, muffled sobs came through the thin plaster that separated their rooms. Leo propped himself up on his elbow and frowned. Zipping up his hoodie to make himself more presentable, he slipped out of his room and knocked softly on Hazel's door. The crying stopped. Shuffling sounds drifted through the wood before Hazel opened the door - just a crack - and peered out at him. Her molten gold eye was red and bleary.

"Are you… okay?" Leo realized he was sorely unprepared to do anything to help.

She sniffled and wiped her tears with her sleeve. "Uh, yeah."

Yeah, right. "Do you want to talk about it or do you want me to leave you alone?"

Hazel bit her lip and hesitated before opening her door. She made her way across her meticulously clean room and sat on her bed, hugging a pillow. Leo awkwardly sat at the foot of her bed, crossing his legs. For a long time, the two of them sat there, facing each other in silence. Finally, Hazel shifted her head so her cheek rested on the pillow, golden curls floating in front of her face, and spoke, voice muffled by the fabric.

"He looks so thin." She fiddled with the hems of her sleeves. "Last time I saw him, he was healthy and awake and now… He looks like death. I mean, I'm glad he's not dead, but he was out there for a _year_ and we didn't know where he was or what he went through and we never went to search for him again-" Her voice caught and she stopped. She looked up at Leo and her curls fell back from her eyes. Grieving gold stared into his soul. "He was my half-brother, you know. We were close before the incident."

"What incident?" He hated himself for asking, but he was curious. Calypso had mentioned as well.

"Oh," Hazel stuttered. Her fingers fluttered in the air. "His… last mission." Her eyes darted away and back.

Leo had a feeling she wasn't telling the truth, but he didn't press for details. "Well, he's back now, right?"

"Yeah." Hazel had a sad, faraway smile. "Back from the dead."

* * *

Encryptions are a tricky thing. To be completely honest, Leo understands machines far more than code, but he tries.

Ha, who are we kidding.

Rachel, Annabeth and Hazel did all the work. Leo didn't really do anything at the hacking sessions other than monitor Buford and build new algorithms for him. He was absolutely abysmal at cracking codes, but he could write programs with a lot of help from Google. That's gotta count for something, right?

(Really, _who_ are we kidding)

That was why he was _not_ at the hacking session the next day. Or that's what he told himself. They were still grieving Nico, and it showed in the way that Rachel was less bubbly and Annabeth snapped more and Hazel rubbed at her eyes from time to time. He had no part in their grieving. He didn't even know who Nico was.

Instead, he was training with the other guys. Or, he was watching them train as he played Flappy Bird, because as we've established several times, his shoulder was out of order. (Useless, useless lump of hot stuff.) Grover sat beside him, due to a disease in his legs that made him walk with a limp (but _man_ that guy could run when enchiladas were involved) in awkward silence. Squeaks echoed through the room as the other guys sparred in their boots. Jab, punch, spin, kick. Percy went down. They were all grieving and hoping in their own way, but the blows were easier to deal with than the silence and clacking of keyboards.

"YEAH, JASON!" yelled Leo, not looking up from his game. He hit a pipe and sighed. "And I was doing so well…" He stuffed his iPod (Buford was _working_ ) into his pocket, giving his attention to Percy and Jason, who were now both fending off Frank. Punch, kick, duck, sweep. Frank had pinned Jason to the wall.

Coach walked in. "Break it up, cupcakes!" Frank released Jason and Percy rubbed his arm. "Nico's up."

* * *

An uncomfortable silence settled on the group like a blanket as they entered the infirmary, broken only by the muffled sounds of air conditioning. Calypso organized supplies at the back as Juniper fussed at Nico, who seemed to be weakly conversing with her. Leo was suddenly unsure of where to look. A vague fear of being kicked off the team now that Nico was back trickled in his mind. He knew now that he was chosen as a replacement for Nico. He closed his eyes and took a breath and dispersed the thought. Now was not the time to dwell on his own insecurities. His team was watching their brother come back (the Argo was _family_ ) and he would be there for them.

Hazel was the first one to break the silence.

"Nico!" She ran forward and collapsed on her half-brother in a hug, tears brimming at her eyes. The others rushed in after her and gathered around his bedside, laughing incredulously and crying. Leo stood on the edge of the group. The chatter of his teammates talking excitedly to their lost brother filled his head and he realized that he was happy, really happy, that his team was finally whole. It always seemed like it was missing something, and they had finally found it.

Nico was home.

* * *

 **A/N:** **aaaaaagh sorry this took so long, guys! i had absolutely no inspiration and was stuck forever on the last few paragraphs. i know i ended it a bit abruptly and this was all filler, but i really didn't know what to do anymore! i might have an idea for the next chapter. still forming it.**

 **also, can you believe that it's been almost two years and i've only written 8 chapters? yeah. writing fiction is definitely not my strong suit, especially when i literally have never watched a spy movie and i'm not basing this on anything in particular.**

 **thank you guys so much for your continued patience and support! i cherish every one of the reviews you guys send and they often make my day, even if it's incoherent screaming. as always, please review and leave your suggestions for where you want the story to go. any ideas you have really help me. i have absolutely no experience writing multi-chap stuff and am abysmal at writing plots. critiques, as always, are welcome, and please (nicely) yell at me from time to time to UPDATE THIS DANG THING or at least look at my doc!**

 **come bother me on my tumblr! i'm yumikat there and i post art and reblog whatever (mostly homestuck). i also made an art insta xzyumi.**

 **love you guys!**

 **~yumi**

 **(p.s. no more of that annoying inconsistent capitalization! i won't capitalize my a/n's anymore because reading those gave me a headache.)**


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